Pages

Thursday, April 14, 2016

On Time...

For so long, I seemed to spend my days waiting for Brett to get home, waiting for the weekends or a holiday. There always seemed to be a focus on what came next, next, next. Time would either drag on endlessly or fly by while I attempted to freeze it for just a moment longer. There was never a happy middle point, but sometime over these past two weeks we've all been learning how to enjoy the little moments.

The beach in Manzanita

As I write this, we've only been on the road for about two weeks, but in a good way it feels so much longer. We've seen and done so much in this short time, but most importantly we've smiled, laughed and created some awesome memories. We're not glancing at the clock that often these days. We aren't worried about when and where we need to be, and to be honest we're not evening rushing the kids off to bed at the end of the day because we're all enjoying our time together. We go to sleep at night, happily exhausted from a day of exploring and laughing together and we usually sleep until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. If it's a day that we need to check out, we eat and once we're finished we have a routine of cleaning up, getting dressed, packing up and heading out. Somehow, by the time we all pile into the car we'll find that it's right on time for us to be checking out of our site.

An evening walk together as a family

Our driving days usually work out well with our schedule. Nolan's morning nap usually lines up nicely with our departure time, so he'll fall asleep easily in the car. If it's a short day of driving (2 or 2.5 hours), he usually sleeps most of the drive. If our day is longer, we'll usually stop after 2 hours of driving for lunch, eat, stretch our legs and maybe explore, depending on where we are, then Nolan takes his second nap as we continue driving.

I'm seeing time, especially as a family, very different these days. The days are happier and easier when we're all together. There isn't as much to take our focus away from each other. There isn't a big house to clean and keep tidy, no bills to pay, or other things that need our immediate attention, other than being with each other. These are the exact reasons why we did this. Quiet moments being together, evenings by the campfire, bed time cuddles, playing at the playground, running on the beaches, exploring the Redwoods. This may not be life forever for us, but it's life for the next few months. It's a chance for us to change the way we view our lives and our priorities. I hope that wherever we set down roots in the coming months, we can take these memories and lessons with us. I hope we always remember that creating these memories together are what is most important, and that we continue to focus on experiences rather than items.

True love - their bond continues to grow and blossom

We are only given so much time here. So much time with our children while they are small... and so much time to love these people and places. We plan on doing our best to take advantage of each and every one of those moments as best as we can, and I hope you all do too.